Firearm grip safety



Oct. 12, 1954 E. A. HOOPES 2,691,232

FIREARM GRIP SAFETY Filed Dec. 26, 1951 Patented Oct. 12, 1954 ITED STATES ATENT OFFICE FIREARM GRIP SAFETY Ernest A. Hoopes, Des Moines, Iowa Application December 26, 1951, Serial No. 263,250

6- Claims. 1

My invention relates to firearm safety mechanisms and specifically is a means for releasing tension on the main spring except when the gun is gripped in preparation to firing it.

All firearms are provided with locks of one sort or another to prevent the trigger from being pulled and the hammer actuated accidentally. To my knowledge, all of these locks takethe form of ameans for preventing the trigger from moving freely. If the trigger cannot be pulled, the sear will not be withdrawn from the cock notch in the hammer. Presumably, therefore, the hammer cannot strike the firing pin and fire. the cartridge in the firing chamber. Even with a conventional lock in the locked position, however, it is known that guns can be fired if they are jolted or jarred, as by dropping on a hard surface. Almost daily the newspapers report the accidental shooting of people as a result of this unfortunate shortcoming of the known so-called safety locks for firearms.

Another shortcoming of the prior art in this field is the fact that most safety locks must be actuated consciously to be eifective. Because mankind is fallible, therefore, the safety locks of the conventional types are sometimes not engaged when they should be. Accidental shootings often occur for this reason also. Sometimes, however, it is desirable to have a weapon ready to. shoot at a moments notice. This would be true when one is stalking game and particularly so if the game is big game such as bears, mountain lions or the'beasts of foreign countries such as, lions and tigers. Also, a safety lock might be an annoyance if target shooting for long periods. Of; the conventional weapons having an automatic safety lock on them, none to my knowledge are provided with any means for rendering it non-operating.

In view of these hazardous failings of prior safetylocks for firearms, it is the principal object of my invention to provide a safety lock for firearms that positively locks the weapons against accidental discharge as a result of the hammer operating spring actuating the hammer;

It is a further object of my invention: to provide jolt proof; safety locks for firearms that is simple in construction, making it economical to manufacture and, maintain.

It is a further object of my invention to pro-- vide a safety lock for firearms that comes: into play automatically whenever the weapon is: released" by the operator.

Itisafurther object of my invention to pro vide a jolt proof safety lock for firearms that can be secured in a non-operating position if desired.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side View of a firearm equipped with my safety lock,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentaryside View of the same weapon with a portion of it broken away to more fully illustrate its construction, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged and still more fragmentary view of the same weapon with a portion of the weapon broken away to more fully illustrate its construction and to show the mechanism cooked and ready to fire.

Referring to the drawings, I have used the numeral ii! to designate the receiver of a semiautomatic pistol which I have used merely as an illustrative example of my safety lock, which is adaptable to any form of small arms. The structure I have shown could, be adapted to any type of gun such as shot guns, rifles, revolvers or the like. The pistol is provided with a standard slide it, trigger I4, chamber l6, firing pin [8, firing pin spring 20, hammer 22, hammer strut 24, hammer actuating or main spring 25, main spring cap 27 and stocks 28. The hammer is pivoted at pin 38 in the conventional manner, and the strut and hammer are linked together as usual by a pin designated 32. In fact, the only unusual parts to the gun shown and which constitute my invention, are those I will now describe.

The numeral 34 designates an element that corresponds to the main spring housing in a standard gun and I will call the piece by the same name. The main spring fulcrum in this case a tube, which is slidably mounted in the housing, is designated 36 and provides a pressure exerting base or reference point for the main spring. A well 38 in the housing 34%- re-- ceives the fulcrum tube 36. An opening it is milled in the housing to permit the entry of safety linkage 42. The two portions of the linkage are pivotally secured together by a pin M and are cut to prevent their pivoting except as shown in the illustrations. The linkage it cannot be moved to a permanent spring tensioning position, therefore; which would destroy the usefulness of the safety mechanism. The linkage 42 has a smooth rounded upper end designated 46 that fits into a notch 48 in the spring tube 36. The lower end of the linkage is provided with a notch 50 that rides on a smooth portion 52 formed at the lower end of opening 40. A safety release lever 54 is pivotally secured to the main spring housing by pin 55. A spring means 58 prevents overtravel of the safety release lever, but is much weaker than main spring 26 and, therefore, will not release the safety mechanism. At the upper end of the safety release lever M is a hole '50 that aligns with safety release lock screw 62 when the weapon is in firing position as illustrated in Fig. 3. The main spring housing is held in position in the conventional manner by the rear of the receiver lfl and pin 64.

The operation of my safety mechanism is very simple. the hammer 22, the sear not shown is forced against the hammer cocking notch by sear spring 66. This pulling back of the hammer by pulling back slide l2 causes the strut 2:3 to be moved downwardly against the main spring cap. In a conventional gun, this action would place tension on the main spring and the gun would be cooked. In a gun equipped with my safety device, however, this tension on the main spring cap merely causes the tube 36 to move downwardly. When the tube moves downwardly, the safety linkage is bent as shown in Fig. 2, causing the safety release lever to assume the position shown in the same figure. The trigger may be pulled without causing any movement of the hammer, therefore, since all tension is released from the main spring. Furthermore, although a jar or jolt might release the sear, the hammer will not strike the firing pin id as there is no tension on the main spring. Also, of course, the tension is released from the main spring whenever the stock of the gun is released. It is impossible to drop the weapon, therefore, without the safety immediately coming into play under normal conditions.

When it is desired to fire the gun, it is only necessary to grip the stock naturally and lever {i i easily forces the safety linkage -52 to the position shown in Fig. 3. With linkage 32 straightened out, the fulcrum tube 35 is raised from the bottom of well 38 and thus provides the main spring with a pressure exerting base reference point. If the trigger M is pulled when the spring 26 is tensioneol, the hammer will fly against the firing pin, firing a cartridge in chamber iii. If for any of the reasons mentioned earlier it is desired to lock the safety release lever in the released position, it can be so locked easily. The method of locking the lever I employ is to mere ly turn locking screw 82 out into hole 6!! while holding the safety release lever in a released position as shown by the broken lines in Fig. 3.

My safety lock is obviously a very simple mechanism, easily made and installed. In the case of a weapon after the pattern of the pistol I have shown, the only changes that need be made to install my lock are to insert screw G2 and replace the usual main spring housing with the modified housing and accessories shown and described. Some guns employ a leaf spring to actuate the hammer which would require a somewhat difierent structure for the safety. The principal would remain the same, however, and the idea of releasing the tension on the main spring is the main thing that I believe to be When the slide is pulled back to cook new in my invention. The device requires no change or modification that would interfere with the usual safety locks on weapons, but is an additional safety that is jolt proof.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my method of and means for safetying cocked fire arms Without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a firearm having a cockable hammer and a coil main spring, a safety lock comprising, a fulcrum tube supporting said spring; said fulcrum tube slidably mounted on said firearm, and means for sliding said fulcrum tube in one direction by gripping said firearm normally, said fulcrum tube when not moved and held by said fulcrum tube sliding means being free to assume a position that prevents said main spring having tension applied to it.

2. In a firearm having a cockable hammer and a coil main spring, a safety lock comprising, a fulcrum tube supporting said spring; said fulcrum tube slidably mounted on said firearm, means for sliding said tube in one direction by gripping said firearm normally, said fulcrum tube when not moved and held by said fulcrum tube sliding means being free to assume a position that prevents said main spring having tension applied to it, and means for releasably locking said fulcrum tube sliding means in the position it assumes when said firearm is gripped normally.

3. In a firearm having a receiver, a cockable hammer and a main spring, a main spring housing rigidly secured to said receiver; said main spring housing having a well therein, a fulcrum tube slidably mounted in said spring housing well; said main spring slidably fitting within said fulcrum tube, a notch on said fulcrum tube, a projection on said main spring housing, a jointed linkage having one end engaging said notch and its other end bearing on said projection, a lever actuated by gripping said firearm normally for forcing said jointed linkage into a straight position, and linkage operatively associating said coil main spring and said hammer when said lever is actuated by gripping said rlrearm normally and said hammer is in a cooked position; said fulcrum tube when said jointed linkage is bent being moved away from said linkage operatively associating said coil main spring and said hammer to operatively disassociate said spring and said hammer.

4. In a firearm having a receiver, a cockable hammer and a main spring, a main spring housing rigidly secured to said receiver; said main spring housing having a well therein, a fulcrum tube slidably mounted in said main spring housing well; said main spring slidably fitting within said fulcrum tube, a notch on said fulcrum tube, a projection on said main spring housing, a jointed linkage having one end engaging said notch and its other end bearing on said projection, a lever actuated by gripping said firearm normally for forcing said jointed linkage into a straight position, linkage operatively associating said coil main spring and said hammer when said lever is actuated by gripping said firearm normally and said hammer is in a cocked position; said fulcrum tube when said jointed linkage is bent being moved away from said linkage operatively associating said coil main spring and said hammer to operatively disassociate said spring and said hammer, and means for releasably locking said lever in the position it assumes when said firearm is gripped normally.

5. In a firearm having a cockable hammer and a main spring for driving said hammer, a safety lock comprising, a fulcrum moveably mounted on said firearm and adjacent said main spring, a lever for moving said fulcrum; said fulcrum moving lever actuated by a normal gripping of the firearm in preparation for firing said firearm; said fulcrum when moved by said lever causing said spring to acquire a pressure exerting base and thereby applying spring tension on said cockable hammer when said hammer is in a cooked position, said fire arm having a threaded hole therein adjacent said lever, and a screw threadably engaging said hole, said lever having a hole in it that aligns with said screw when said firearm is gripped normally in preparation for firing; whereby when said lever is depressed by a normal gripping of said firearm said screw may be extended into the hole in said lever by screwing it out of said firearm hole.

6. In a firearm having a cockable hammer and a main spring for driving said hammer, a safety lock comprising, a fulcrum moveably mounted on said firearm and adjacent said main spring, a lever for moving said fulcrum; said fulcrum moving lever actuated by a normal gripping of the firearm in preparation for firing said firearm; said fulcrum when moved by said lever causing said spring to acquire a pressure exerting base and thereby applying spring tension on said cockable hammer when said hammer is in a cocked position, said firearm having a threaded hole therein adjacent said lever, and a screw threadably engaging said hole, said lever having a hole in it that aligns with said screw when said firearm is gripped normally in preparation for firing; whereby said lever is depressed by a normal gripping of said firearm and whereby said screw may be extended into the hole in said lever by screwing it out of said firearm hole; said main spring and said hammer of said firearm being free to move independently of each other in one direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 161,117 Hadley Mar. 23, 1875 339,300 Johnson Apr. 6, 1886 351,262 Goltstein Oct. 19, 1886 875,469 Tambour Dec. 31, 1907 891,748 Tambour June 23, 1908 905,020 Tambour Nov. 24, 1908 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 7,325 Great Britain A. D. 1891 

